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143rd Year, No. 163
REGONIAN
JUNE 1-2, 2019
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Smoke’s effect
on wildland
fi refi ghters’
health unknown
By JES BURNS
Oregon Public Broadcasting
When Timothy Ingalsbee thinks back
on his days in the 1980s and 1990s fi ght-
ing wildfi res in the Pacifi c Northwest, he
remembers the adventure of jumping out
of a helicopter into the wilderness.
“Ideally we’d have at least one skid
touching the steep slope,” he recalled.
There was the camaraderie of sleep-
ing with his crew out under the stars or
smoke-fi lled skies. And then there were
the colors.
“I had amazing vistas of crimson red
sunsets over the mountains,” he said.
But Ingalsbee, who went on to found
the Eugene-based Firefi ghters United for
Safety, Ethics and Ecology, doesn’t want
to remember everything.
“I tried to forget about all the forests I
inhaled,” he said. “I remember some sea-
sons, I just had been so impacted by this
smoke. I lost my sense of smell and taste
for several months. It wasn’t until maybe
the next spring it started coming back.”
Over the past few years, Pacifi c
Northwest communities have been get-
ting better acquainted with wildfi re
smoke. The issue has become a politi-
cal, economic and public-health light-
ning rod. But even in the most affected
places, people can get some relief by lim-
iting time outside and using air fi lters and
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — Matthew and Sara
Allison are beaming in the photo
they took in front of Crater Lake,
their last bit of Oregon sightsee-
ing before leaving June 5, 2016, for
home in Boise. He was 27, she was
30, they were married fi ve years.
They never made it back.
Sara was behind the wheel of their Ford
Focus so Matthew could rest during the drive
on narrow Highway 20 east of Burns when
James Decou of Clearfi eld, Utah, drove his fl at-
bed hauling semi head-on into the couple’s car.
Matthew suffered broken ribs, a lacerated
spleen, head trauma and more, and required a
fl ight in an emergency helicopter from Harney
District Hospital, Burns, to Legacy Emanuel
Hospital, Portland.
Sara died in the crash.
Matthew Allison recounted the story May
7 in Pendleton while testifying in federal court
during the civil trial for his injuries and his
wife’s death. Court records show he brought
the urn containing Sara’s cremains to the wit-
ness stand.
See Smoke, Page A8
Oregon lawmakers
recommend new
ditch-cleaning bill
See Road Rage, Page A8
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — A key group of Oregon
lawmakers has recommended spending
$700,000 to implement new regulations
allowing farmers to clean more sediment
from ditches with less red tape.
Currently, farmers must obtain a state
fi ll-removal permit to dredge more than 50
cubic yards of dirt from drainage ditches,
which is considered an overly burdensome
and frequently ignored requirement.
Under House Bill 2437, that limit would
increase to 3,000 cubic yards of material
per mile of drainage ditch over fi ve years,
as long as the channels are dry and unin-
habited by sensitive salmonid fi sh, among
other provisions.
Because
additional
government
employees would need to oversee the pro-
See HB 2437, Page A8
Pendleton Class of 2019’s rising Starr
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Every Pendle-
ton High School senior who crosses the
grass at the Round-Up Grounds Satur-
day accomplished something to reach
graduation. But Morningstarr Red-
crane might easily take the best name
in the Class of 2019.
The senior, who goes simply by
Starr, has stories for both of her names.
The name Morningstarr came from
her mother, who came up with it as a
childhood “dream name” for herself.
The name stuck in her mind as she
grew up, and when she bestowed it on
Starr when she was born, it took on
extra meaning because her daughter
became the “brightest part” of her life.
An enrolled member of the Con-
federated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, Starr’s surname came
from her mother’s “great-great-great-
great-grandfather,” who held the name
Redcrane before it became the family’s
last name. A boarding school changed
her grandfather’s last name to “Crane”
before the family restored it for Starr
and the rest of the grandchildren.
But Starr didn’t earn a high school
diploma and get a near full-ride schol-
arship to Oregon State University based
on her incandescent name.
When she was interviewed on
Thursday, Starr had just gotten her
braces removed.
As she adjusted to her freshly
straightened teeth, Starr recalled how
she and her orthodontist were talking
about the ins and outs of dental school
and what her options were.
Starr wants to join the pre-dentistry
program once she arrives in Corvallis.
“Everyone hates going to the den-
tist,” she said. “When I go to the dentist,
See Graduate, Page A8
CHI St. Anthony Hospital Family Clinic is recognized
as a Patient -Centered Primary Care Home.
What does that mean for you?
• Better-coordinated care.
• Healthcare providers who will help connect you
• Listening to your concerns and answering with the care you need in a safe and timely way.
• Healthcare providers who play an active role in
questions.
your health.
• After-hours nurse consultation.
844.724.8632
3001 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton
WWW.SAHPENDLETON.ORG
Mon through Thurs, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. • Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Sat and Sun, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Walk-ins are welcome but appointments are preferred.